Australia took the lead early in the third Test against India on Wednesday, leading by 47 runs after Matthew Kuhnemann’s five-wicket haul helped India be dismissed for 109 on an eventful opening day.
After Usman Khawaja produced a tenacious 60 to propel his team’s response on an aggressively turning Indore pitch, the tourists were 156-4 at stumps.
By the end of play, Cameron Green was on six and Peter Handscomb was on seven. The four Australian wickets were all taken by spinner Ravindra Jadeja.
With his 21st Test half-century and a 96-run second-wicket partnership with Marnus Labuschagne, who scored 31, Khawaja stood out in this match.
Labuschagne, who is ranked first among Test batsmen, received a reprieve when Jadeja was found to have crossed the boundary.
Khawaja, a left-handed batsman, lost his wicket while attempting a sweep and was caught at deep midwicket after helping Australia surpass India’s first-innings score.
substitute skipper Before being caught behind, Steve Smith struck out for 26 and gave a strong performance.
Yet after the hosts decided to bat first on a dry surface that turned right away, Kuhnemann, a left-arm spinner, gave Australia the victory.
In only his second Test, Kuhnemann recorded his first five-wicket haul and bowled out India shortly after midday with the assistance of veteran spinner Nathan Lyon, who also took three.
Australia applied spin in the sixth over to recover from two devastating losses in the four-match series.
In a frantic first session on a low-bouncing minefield, it gave immediate reward when skipper Rohit Sharma was stumped for 12 by Kuhnemann.
India’s Batting Woes Continue as Australia Dominates Day One of Second Test Match
KL Rahul, who was struggling, was replaced by Shubman Gill, who started to fight back with three fours but also fell to Kuhnemann, who was caught at slip by Smith for 21.
Lyon followed that with a delivery that stayed low and spun wildly, bowling Cheteshwar Pujara for one.
When India slumped to 45-5 in the opening hour of play, wickets continued to fall.
Todd Murphy grabbed the wicket of Virat Kohli for the third time in as many games despite the top batsman having a solid 22-ball knock.
Returning left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc believed he had Rohit caught behind on the first ball of the day, but the appeal was denied.
Replays revealed that the batter had stolen the ball, but Australia chose not to review the incident. Three balls later, they passed up another chance that, had it been referred to the TV umpire, would have had Rohit out by long ball.
But neither Rohit, who scored a century in the first Test, nor the rest of the Indian batting lasted for very long.